Town's purchase of parcel would end zoning litigation

MANALAPAN - Township officials appear to be one step away from acquiring a piece of property that has been the subject of litigation for years.

The 25-acre parcel is known at the Tillis tract but is in fact owned by the Providence Corporation. The land lies along Route 522 (Freehold-Englishtown Road) between the western property line of the Manalapan Recreation Center and the border of Englishtown.

Township Committee members may vote tonight, July 16, to buy the parcel for about $1.4 million. An ordinance to that effect was introduced June 25.

Mayor Michelle Roth and committee members Richard Klauber, Andrew Lucas and Susan Cohen voted to introduce the ordinance. Committeeman Anthony Gennaro voted no on the introduction.

Roth said one of the issues that will be up for discussion at tonight's public hearing on the ordinance will be how the township should fund the acquisition. She said officials can issue bonds for the purchase of the property.

The mayor said she expects to have an answer as to whether officials can use open space funding for the purchase of the property or whether doing so would violate the rules of the open space trust.

Roth said she and Klauber will put forth the idea of leasing the 25-acre tract to a third party after Manalapan buys it. She said their idea is to lease the property for a sports-related use such as a rink of some sort or a "bubble stadium."

That way, she said, the revenue from the lease agreement could be used to pay off the bonds or replenish any trust fund money that was spent to buy the land, which is next to the recreation center.

Once the purchase price is recouped the township would continue to have an ongoing source of revenue, according to the mayor.

"It would be a nice way to create a ratable for the town and it has the potential to expand the township's recreational opportunities while at the same time serving as an ongoing source of revenue," Roth said.

The Providence Corporation entered into litigation with Manalapan following a zoning change in 2002 when the area where the Tillis tract is located was rezoned from 1-acre zoning (one house per acre) to RE-3 (residential or light industrial use at a rate of one structure per 3 acres).

Since the number of homes that could have been built was reduced from 25 to about eight, the Providence Corporation sought relief from the courts.

According to Roth, state Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson recently instructed her and Lucas, who appeared before him as the governing body's representatives, to reach a settlement with the Providence Corporation or go to court on the firm's challenge to the local zoning.

Roth said she told Lawson she and Lucas would take the settlement offer to the governing body with their input into the discussion geared toward approval of the ordinance to purchase the 25-acre parcel.